The 12 days of Christmas
by MunkieJunkie
Summary: A girl wants to celebrate christmas so bad she runs away from her family farm. When Christmas town turns out to be a lonely place, she must head to find Santa. Along the way she meets a "brainless" Snowman, a "Heartless" grinch, and a "cowardly" reindeer who all want Santa's help too. They must make the journey against the Heat Miser who wants to ruin christmas!


Alright, so this is my wizard of oz based cross over of tons of christmas movies and songs story I am putting together for my neices for christmas. I am trying to keep it basic in structure and everything so it moves along quick enough they dont get bored, but trying to increase some vocabulary and stuff for them. Critics are welcome, but keep in mind the simplicity I am going for. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Why not? WHY NOT!" Belle scowled, throwing herself onto the couch in her living room.

Her grandfather grunted, "We're too old for all that non-sense. Belle, I know you are having a hard time adjusting to life on the farm, but we don't have time to waste around here. Decorating, baking cookies, singing, that doesn't put food on our table now does it?"

Belle pulled her knees to her chest, biting back her frustration, "Grandpa, its Christmas! What is Christmas without all those things? It's not like we even get snow anymore."

Just then, her grandmother walked into the room, "Belle, would you please come help me in the kitchen. Your grandfather can't fix that old fence if he doesn't get a good meal."

Belle sighed and followed her grandmother to the kitchen, "Grandma, why can't we do something for Christmas? I want to open presents, decorate a tree, and bake cookies!"

Her grandmother placed a pot of potatoes in Belle's hand, "Chop these potatoes child, the boys need their strength."

Belle sighed and put the pot down on the counter, she looked up through the window and spied the farm boys out in the yard tending to the animals. She began chopping and helped her grandmother finished the lunch for the workers.

"Belle," her grandmother asked as she spooned out the stew, "Take these bowls out to the boys and hurry back."

Belle took the platter of bowls out the back door and to the barn, "Come on, lunch is on!" She called out to the farm bowls. The three young men came over.

A tall, slender, scruffy and unshaven man was the first, "Oh boy, the winter stew. My favorite!"

Belle handed him a bowl, "Foster, everything is your favorite. Can't you make up your mind of your favorite?"

Foster was already shoveling food into his mouth, "I really can't its all good. I dont need a brain to eat!"

A stout, sturdy came scurrying in, "Glad to have that stew today! It is a frosty one out there today!"

Belle handed him a bowl, "Rudy, you like Christmas don't you? Wouldn't you like to have some fresh baked cookies, and decorate a beautiful Christmas tree?"

Rudy nodded, "Oh Christmas cookies are the best, that was my favorite thing about Christmas as a boy, eating cookies, opening presents on Christmas morning!"

"Who has time for Christmas?" A rough voice charged in. "We aren't paid to eat cookies, and stick shiney balls in trees."

Belle frowned, "Maybe I should just not even feed you Grimsby, you old schroog you!"

Rudy nudged him, "Ya, have a heart! Its the season of giving."

Grimsby grabbed his bowl from Belle who stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll be giving you all a swift kick in the boot if you dont hurry up and get back to work. Come on, the sheep haven't even been fed yet!" Grandfather came into the barn long enough to scold them, and walked out with a wheel barrel before anyone could answer.

"Listen Belle," Foster handed his empty bowl back, "If you could find a way to make the chores get down quicker, then you'd have time to bake cookies. Have a brain why don'tcha and work smarter. I should get those sheep fed." He left in a blink of an eye.

"Belle," Rudy handed his bowl back as well, "Just go cut down a tree yourself and bring it inside, if it's already there, they can't tell you no; just have a little courage is all!"

Grimsby put his bowl down as well, "Just dont cook, we all know your Grandmother is the baker, you'd probably just burn them."

With that, Belle was alone, in the chilly barn trying to decide what to do next. "What if I don't want to be on this stinky old farm anymore. I wish I could find a place where it was always Christmas, where everyone wanted to be jolly, and sing, and bake and decorate the trees." She thought to herself solemly.

"Thats it!" Belle declared, she rushed back to the house as her mind was racing. She will run away, it's Christmas Eve and there has to be somewhere she can go to have a Christmas; besides no one would miss her while she was gone, they were all too busy anyway! She crept back into the house and put the dishes into the sink and slipped to her room. She packed a small back quickly, and put on her warm pants, and socks and added an extra scarf and pair of gloves for the road.

Quick as a mouse, she stole out of the house and down the street as fast as she could before she decided to look back. They won't even know I am gone until lunch tomorrow! She thought happily to herself, the perfect escape.

She made her way down to the river, "The best place to go for Christmas is north. They must celebrate Christmas the closer you get to the north pole." She thought to herself; "Water always runs down, and south is down, so as long as I follow the river up-stream, I will surely reach the north Pole soon!"

With her mind made up she began walking, the rocks along the bank of the river made the adventure fun. However, she hadn't thought about what happens to water when it sits in cold weather. She made a long jump to the next rock over and slipped! She tumbled down into the river, and the fast moving water washed her down stream. All she could do was try and keep her head above water. She tried to scream for help but only got mouthfuls of water.

Suddenly, she could make out the top of a waterfall and she thought, "this is it, I'm done for!" She felt herself launch off the top of the waterfall and she closed her eyes tight. It wasn't long before she fell flat out on her back.

When Belle opened her eyes, she found herself on a bed of ice and it was snowing! As she looked around, she could see she was on a lake, trees and houses were lined up so far away to her left, but as she swung right she found a small hut perched on the edge of the tree line.

A gust of wind blew and it cut right to Belle's bones, she was soaking wet, her coat and boats freezing to ice. She suddenly started to shiver, farm rules one o one, never get wet on a cold winter's day or you could die of hypothermia. She mustered all her courage and pulled herself to her slippery feet and slowly made her way, gliding across the ice to the hut, hoping someone was inside to help her.

Just as she reaches the shore, a man swings the hut door open and stood with his back to the lake and Belle; his thick winter pants are tucked into thick rubber boots, but he had no coat on, just an old cotton shirt with gloves and a hat on.

"Help!" Belle managed to croak out before slipping and falling on the ice.

He turned just in time to see her laying on the ice, "My goodness! Excuse me are you alright?" He shouted as she climbed onto the ice and over to Belle's side.

She shook her head as he helped her to her feet, "I'm wet, and cold. And I think I am lost."

"You sure look lost, no one walks around this forest alone, you will catch your death out here! Come inside by the fire!" The man helped her across the ice and into his small hut; it had a stool, a bed, a table, and a small dresser all circling around a roaring fire.

"You need to take those wet cloths off if you have any hope to warm up." The man went to the dresser, "Take your jacket and boots off. Let me pull you out some warm dry cloths you can change into. The name is Munch by the way."

Munch reached out to shake Belle's hand, "My name is Belle. I am so sorry to drop in like this, I feel into the river you see, and made it out here to the lake somehow."

Munch looked up, "The river? Why there isn't a river moving around here for miles." He handed her a pile of cloths, "take these and get changed, there is tea warming in the fire already. I will head outside and pull in some more fire wood while you get changed."

Belle took the cloths, and changed quickly. As soon as she was in dry cloths, she could feel herself already warming up. She grabbed the stool and sat right next to the fire with her sock covered toes practically in the fire to warm them up.

Munch came back with the wood, and poured her a tea, "So, I suppose your not from around here are you?"

Belle shook her head, "Not really no. I would really like to just get back home."

"Where were you headed before you, well, ended up in my hut?" Munch asked.

"I had a fight with my Grandfather about Christmas. You see I want to have a tree, and bake cookies, and sing carols, and all of that. Grandfather says we dont have time to be foolish, the farm needs a lot of work, and there are no days off for a farmer, he says. I left to find a place that does celebrate christmas."

Munch chuckled, "you came to the right place then, you are about a carriage ride away from Christmas Town. Its the one thing everyone there loves is celebrate Christmas, it takes them all year to plan it."

Belle's eyes lit up, "Oh would you take me there! Could you please?"

Munch grinned, "Sure, no problem, I was actually heading into town before I saw you. Get warmed up and we can head on over.


End file.
